Im looking for suggestions of what recovery equipment I can use to recover my vehicle by myself
I am in both the fortunate and unfortunate situation of been surrounded by off road territory but being the only person to utilize it :|
I would love to go further and into rougher terrain but the constant fear of getting stuck keeps me from doing it

I know it is never advised to go out by yourself but I dont have a choice if I actually wanna get out there and do some wheeling.

a friend of mine went driving on his own and got stuck, and when he called me, I was out of town for the weekend. So it cost him R500 for a tow truck, where as I would of helped him with a smile as he drives a nissan
I always go bushwacking with a backup, you never know...

A good quality high lift jack is non-negotiable. That is the most versatile self-recovery tool you can think of. Together with a spade, it can be used to get out of most situations, and it can even be used as a winch. never leave home without it.

Tristan, try Farmarama & Burmeisters before going to the 4x4 outlets in E.L. They just might have and would be cheaper.

As mentioned, a highlift jack, chain, some 'D' shackles, spade and sand ladders (I use a pair of 6mm aluminium checker plate tread plates) will get you out of almost any predicament. To use the jack as a winch is slow but works well, the only serious drawback is one of safety because of course you cannot operate the jack remotely, putting you in the line of fire from whiplash if something snaps.

I also 'go it alone' quite often and the truth is that you don't really get stuck that often so I've never bothered to get a winch. Also one tends to choose your path more carefully and hone your offroad driving skills.

Otherwise phone Cassie, he will phone me and I'm just 20 mins up the drag, so it will be easier for me to phone the towing & recovery company

Good luck and happy trails.

When your road comes to an end ...... you need a HILUX!.

Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers ... what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.Don't take life too seriously ..... no-one gets out alive.It's not about waiting for storms to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.And be yourself ..... everyone else is taken!

Tristan, I used to go offroading alone quite often, but try not to do it anymore... I have been stuck many times and helped by guys on this forum many times... but the surface was always muddy... all other surfaces are easy to recover from... mostly just deflate your tires quite a bit and drive out... Rule 1: Never go 4x4ing alone... but for those of us breaking that rule... Rule 1b: Stay away from mud...

Disobeyed both those rules a week or two ago and got stuck. It took a local guy with a tractor to get me out at a cost of R50.

We were bored on the Sunday and heard from the locals that the salt pan outside town could be interesting if you had a 4x4. Well it was mostly damn boring till we found this mud pool. We first drove through the end of it and found it quiet easy and hardly a challenge at all with the KL71's working very well. The second time at a different angle got us to fall through our own tracks and the 2 inches of crusty stuff on the top of the very slick mud underneath. That mud is super slick and makes a MT tyre into a slick.

Not planning any 4x4'ing, we did not even have a spade with us. I did some digging by hand, but I ripped 2 nails off my fingers and the blood in the mud did not do much for my mood. A hilift would have worked great if I could have jacked the front up, and pushed it off the jack to the side, then repeat at the rear until it was out.

So what was mentioned here, spade, hilift and water is probably the most important. We did not plan to be out for more than 2 hours, we were stuck for nearly 3 hours. The best part of it was that we were on our way out as we were getting bored

However last year we got stuck on a 100m stretch of road / jeep track. IT TOOK US 9HOURS TO RECOVER 5 VEHICLES....

I took almost 4 hours to get this Landy through! :evil:

Nah, come on! I love the stuff ........ like a hole in the .....

SuidWes wrote:Same here, only Mud has cought me out... a couple of times

..... and I'll probably still catch you out some more!

Family_Dog wrote:'Oy, David! I'm still waiting for the GTG here!!! What happened, get lost?

-F_D

Now, now Eric! We understand your dissapointment, but you don't have to tell the poor bloke to "get lost"!

When your road comes to an end ...... you need a HILUX!.

Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers ... what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.Don't take life too seriously ..... no-one gets out alive.It's not about waiting for storms to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.And be yourself ..... everyone else is taken!

Here are some pics showing pull pal. As you can see the hi lift jack is used as the horizontal arm.

The contraption doubles up a quick tyre remover as well. The braces are shaped on the ends as tyre levers and there is a loose little "foot" shown in the picture that is a bead breaker. The hi lift jack is fitted in the vertical position for the bead breaker.

Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers ... what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.Don't take life too seriously ..... no-one gets out alive.It's not about waiting for storms to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.And be yourself ..... everyone else is taken!

Quite simple really, hey! Should be a piece of old takkie to make something like that up.

When your road comes to an end ...... you need a HILUX!.

Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers ... what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.Don't take life too seriously ..... no-one gets out alive.It's not about waiting for storms to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain.And be yourself ..... everyone else is taken!